1. Field of the Invention
This document relates to a compressor for a vehicle. More particularly, this document relates to a motor-driven compressor for a vehicle, which has a structure allowing a connector of an electric motor to be easily fixed.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, hybrid vehicles or electric vehicles using both fossil fuels and electricity as drive sources are getting the spotlight due to low pollution/high-fuel efficiency policies against depletion of fossil fuels and environmental contaminations, and various studies have been actively performed therefor.
Such a hybrid vehicle or electric vehicle obtains power for driving the vehicle through an electric motor. Accordingly, recently, motor-driven compressors have been extensively used instead of mechanical compressors in existing vehicle air conditioning systems.
A motor-driven compressor includes an electric motor for converting electric energy to mechanical energy, and an inverter for controlling rotation of the electric motor. Accordingly, the assembled structure and size of the electric motor greatly influence upon the assembled structure of the entire compressor.
Such electric motors for a motor-driven compressor generally include a cylindrical rotor and a stator on which coils are wound to surround the outer periphery of the rotor, and their winding methods are classified into distributed winding and concentrated winding.
FIG. 1 is a view schematically showing a typical electric motor for a vehicle compressor. As shown in FIG. 1, the electric motor includes a cylindrical stator 10 surrounding the outer periphery of a rotor (not shown). The cylindrical shape of the stator 10 is axially hollowed such that the rotor is installed in the hollowed portion of the stator 10.
Meanwhile, coils are wound on the stator, in which case a plurality of slots (not shown) are formed on the inner periphery of the stator 10 in a direction parallel to the axis of the stator 10.
Coils are wound through the slots, and in particular, the coils wound in parallel to the axis of the stator 10 along the slots are exposed to the outside of the stator 10 at axial opposite ends of the stator 10. Hereinafter, sections formed by the coils exposed at the axial opposite ends of the stator 10 are called end turns 20.
The coils extending from one of the end turns 20 form a harness 20′ to receive power of three phases (U, V, and W phases) for driving the electric motor from an inverter, and three terminals and a connector 30 surrounding the terminals are provided at a tip end of the harness 20′. The connector 30 is exposed through an opening formed at one side of a compressor housing when the electric motor is received within the compressor housing such that the terminals of the connector 30 are electrically connected to the inverter installed outside the opening.
However, the above-described technology has the following disadvantages.
Since the terminals through which power is input from the inverter and the connector 30 are provided at an end of the harness 20′, the connector 30 still remains unfixed. Accordingly, the connector 30 needs to be manually located at the opening of the compressor housing when the electric motor is assembled within the compressor housing.
In particular, since an opening of the compressor housing for receiving the electric motor into the compressor housing and an opening of the compressor housing through which the connector is exposed toward the inverter are formed on opposite sides in the vehicle compressor where a compression section for compression of a refrigerant, the electric motor, and the inverter are arranged in series, it is bothersome to manually locate the connector at the opening of the compressor housing.
In addition, since the connector 30 remains unfixed even after assembled, its position may be unstably changed by an external impact.
Furthermore, since the connector 30 is withdrawn from an end turn of the stator of the electric motor in the harness structure, a space between the electric motor and the inverter is inevitably necessary to connect the electric motor received within the compressor housing and the inverter, considering the harness structure. Accordingly, there is almost no room to improve the axial length of the motor-driven compressor.